In supporting U.S. private sector investment in emerging markets, OPIC works with businesses of all sizes including large numbers of small businesses. Because many of the world’s fastest-growing, high-yield markets are in developing countries, expanding abroad can help these businesses create jobs in the U.S., and lead to procurement of U.S. goods and services. In 2013, almost three-quarters of the projects OPIC supported involved a U.S. small business.

OPIC works hard to educate and support American small businesses about the benefits of expanding into emerging markets, and each year it hosts a series of Expanding Horizons workshops for small businesses around the country.

Since 1971, OPIC projects in developing countries have supported 278,000 American jobs and resulted in significant procurement of U.S. goods and services. Our award in the American small business category highlights the exceptional work of OPIC’s small business partners investing in emerging markets and addressing critical development challenges.

Each OPIC Impact Award honoree was selected through a rigorous process taking into consideration project focus on priority sectors or regions, innovation in overcome obstacles, quality of risks, risk mitigation practice, and development impact, among other factors.